laundry detergent

Laundry.  A necessary evil, but one that doesn't have to hurt.  A little organization and preparation goes a long way, or so I've heard.  I currently have a "laundry basket dresser" on my hubby's "honey-do" list (man, I love him), so we're working on that organization bit, but this laundry detergent sure has helped in other ways.  It's lacking a whole lot of those nasty chemicals found in so much of the store bought stuff and the price?!  Cheap as beans.  I haven't figured it all out down to the load, but knowing what goes into it and what I spend for those supplies and how long they last . . . let's just say that I'm confident it is far less than most people are paying for chemicals and water in large, plastic, orange bottles.

I also want to preface this with: I WAS A POWDERED DETERGENT HATER in my past life.  No lie.  In my quest to simplify this part of my life, I whipped up various versions of homemade laundry detergent.  Some felt like a full time job to create, some just didn't work like I desperately wanted them to.  And then came this beautiful powdered version that started out fabulous (when I convinced hubby to be my certified "soap-grating-man") and turned out amazing (when I was gifted a mini-food processor that I now realize I shouldn't have attempted to live without).  Give it a shot if you're interested, even if you're anxious about the whole "powdered" thing. 

For those of you wondering if it works . . . I have two messy little boys who play hard, a hubby who sometimes comes home from work with mysterious stains on his clothing (come ON . . . minds out of the gutter, peeps), and lots of sweaty, smelly workout clothes from the hubs' and my frequent workouts.  Our clothes are clean and fresh, I promise.

POWDERED LAUNDRY DETERGENT

Ingredients:

1 bar Fels Naptha soap, finely grated  (I've heard you can use castile bars too, just haven't yet)

1 cup baking soda

½ cup Borax

½ cup washing soda

Mix well in a large container.  (Will remain powdery.)  Use approximately 2 Tablespoons per large load of laundry. 

NOTE:

I begin filling my top loading washer with water, add detergent, and gently stir once or twice.  Then I add a splash of vinegar to the tub and an additional splash in the "beach" well.  This serves as a softener agent as well!  For the "BUSY" in all of us, do yourself a favor and make a couple of batches of this at once.